How did you start what’s now known as the Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series?

It started just as something fun, a benefit for the Coatesville Cultural Center. We brought in a local band called The Morrigan. At that point the band was hosting a weekly session at a pub called McShea’s in Narberth and I used to go to that get-together whenever I could. The session is now defunct. I was really amazed that 50 people turned out for the benefit. So was the band. The tickets were a mere $5. The band would only accept gas money. Our shows are still cheap at $15 most of the time. I don’t do it to make money, though.

Since that time, you’ve brought in some very interesting and much bigger acts. How do you decide who to hire?

In the beginning I would contact people whose music I personally enjoyed and wouldn’t mind hearing, like 75-year-old Michael Rafferty, who plays the flute and whose daughter was one of the original members of Cherish the Ladies, and Billy McComiskey from Baltimore, a button accordion player who is a real Irish music icon in the neighborhood. My banjo teacher Peter Fitzgerald also performed—he’s from Ireland but lives in Baltimore. Now, people are starting to call me. I’ve heard from the agents for fiddlers Kevin Burke and Liz Carroll, but we don’t have the space, nor can we pay those fees. Our biggest act by far was fiddler Martin Hayes, who is a big star and drew the biggest audience—150. We had to use the balcony. We usually only have 50-60 people.

Are audiences growing as more people learn about the series?

In the beginning, it was just local folks, the mom and pop crowd, who came out of curiosity. Now we’re drawing people from farther away, people out there who are traditional music fans, who came to check us out and are coming back. We’ve had people from Philly, York, Harrisburg. . I’ve had people come from Yonkers, N.Y., and spend the night on my floor. If it’s somebody you want to see and know about the venue, it’s an intimate kind of place where there are no bad seats and you get to rub elbows with the musicians. A good percentage of the guys and gals who play for me also give workshops before the concert

How did you get interested in Irish music? You say you play the banjo.

I’ve been a banjo player and fiddler for 35 years, but I wasn’t always playing Irish music. My interest was in Appalachian old-time music. Back in 1994, my wife, who plays guitar, and I went to County Clare and that was when I really got hooked. I started listening to the music more seriously and buying the CDs. I eventually decided to see if I could play some Irish music. I’ve been working on the Irish tenor banjo for the last 5 years. It’s a lot of fun. I’m 56 years old and it’s strange being a beginner again. But it’s neat having a whole new body of music to learn; it makes me feel like a kid again.

What’s coming up next?

Next on the bill is Joannie Madden who plays tin whistle, and Mary Coogan, who plays guitar, banjo, and mandolin, from the band Cherish the Ladies. They’ll be here on April 22. We’re going to have a wonderful uilleann piper from Leitrim on June 17, Brian McNamara. In the fall, we’ll have the group Fanai. And I’ve been talking to a Dublin-born accordion player, James Keane. It’s shaping up to be a very exciting season.